Door assemblies for vehicles include an impact beam that is attached to and extends between a first edge and a second edge of the door. The impact beam increases resistance against side impacts. The impact beam may be spaced from an interior surface of an exterior panel, i.e., skin, of the door assembly. In order to prevent undesirable noise and/or vibration in the exterior panel when opening and closing the door, a cushioning compound may be disposed between the impact beam and the exterior panel of the door assembly. The cushioning compound reduces and/or prevents vibration in the exterior panel.
The cushioning compound is only capable of spanning a maximum expansion distance. Accordingly, the impact beam must be disposed within the maximum expansion distance from the interior surface of the exterior panel. Additionally, during a painting process, the door assembly may be positioned such that a pressure applied to an exterior surface of the exterior panel is greater than the pressure applied to the interior surface of the exterior panel, thereby causing the exterior panel to flex inward toward the impact beam. This may be referred to as “oil canning”. If the door assembly flexes inward during the painting process, the exterior panel may compress the cushioning compound, thereby separating the cushioning compound from the exterior panel once the exterior panel rebounds back into its initial shape after the painting process, which may lead to undesirable vibration and/or noise in the door assembly.